


just let me let you down

by ohmcgee



Series: Peter/Tony One-Shots [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awkward Crush, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14531994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmcgee/pseuds/ohmcgee
Summary: “I just think,” Tony starts, "that we should probably get the elephant out of the room before everyone starts buying tickets to the circus.”





	just let me let you down

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: I'm in love with you. From [ prompt list.](http://tiptoe39.tumblr.com/post/152690639271/super-sappy-lines-prompt-list)

“I should probably go,” Peter says, running his fingers over one of the new prototypes Tony’s been letting him help with. “I'm up here so much lately I think everyone thinks I'm in love with you or something.”

He lets out a little laugh, but doesn't actually seem to be in any hurry to leave.

“Do they now?” Tony asks, speaking in the same disinterested tone he uses when Peter won't shut up about the newest podcast he's obsessed with, as if he’s not aware of the whispering going on behind his back. For a team of grown adults, they certainly can resemble a bunch of gossip-mongering teenagers sometimes.  

“Yeah,” Peter says, fidgeting with a power core he picks up from one of the work tables, tossing it back and forth in his hands as he paces. “It's pretty dumb, right?”

Tony carefully plucks the core out of Peter's hands when Peter accidentally twists the module in the center and it starts glowing green. “I don't know,” he says, glancing briefly at the green light reflecting in Peter’s eyes before deactivating the power cell and setting it on a shelf Peter can't reach. “Is it?”

Peter just looks at him, biting the inside of his cheek, and Tony leans up against the table behind him and crosses his arms. This isn’t really how he’d wanted to do this, but it’s long overdue and now is as good of a time as any, he figures. Honestly, he'd really hoped that Peter would just get over it before it came to this, but that is obviously not happening any time soon. So, they’re doing this.

Tony raises his eyebrows at him, waiting. Peter tries his damndest to pull that confused puppy face and act like he has no idea what Tony’s referring to, but they both know it’s bullshit, and the puppy eyes stopped working on his months ago. Mostly.

“I just think,” Tony starts, “that we should probably get the elephant out of the room before everyone starts buying tickets to the circus.”

“Wait,” Peter says, eyes widening. “You have an elephant?”

Tony sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, right. I’m just gonna skip the subtleties and lay it out here. You've got a little crush on me. It's fine. It's cool. It happens. Hell, you're fifteen. You probably have a crush on the guy selling bootleg PlayStation games across the street from your apartment. It doesn't have to be weird. It doesn't have to mean anything. Alright? We good? Good.”

Peter’s cheeks go a bit pink, but other than that, he says nothing. So, Tony spins back around in his chair and goes back to the code he was working on. The kid doesn't want to talk about it, that's fine. Understandable. But Tony did what he was supposed to do. And maybe it's as easy as that. The foolishly optimistic part of him lets him believe that. That maybe it doesn't have to get weird and they can just go back to doing their weird mentor/mentee thing. But as he listens to Peter pacing around the lab behind him, shuffling his feet and fidgeting with anything he can get his hands on, Tony knows that’s not going to be the case.

“What if,” Peter says a few moments later and Tony’s shoulders immediately tense up. He doesn't turn around though, doesn’t even acknowledge Peter said anything, just keeps scrolling through lines of code. He knows what's coming next just like he knows when his suit’s not calibrated perfectly, and he thinks (hopes) that if he pretends he didn't hear Peter, then maybe Peter will pretend he didn't say it and they can go back to normal. Whatever that is. “What if I want it to mean something.”

Tony’s fingers pause on the keyboard and he sighs. Goddammit. “You don't. You're just confused.”

“Oh,” Peter says. Tony can hear the anger and petulance in his voice already ramping up. “Right. Because I'm just a dumb kid who doesn't know anything. Oh, except how to take down a dangerous weapons dealer without anyone else's help. Except I went up against Captain America. Except I  --”

“Okay, cool it,” Tony says, pushing himself out of his chair and turning around to face Peter. "Look. You're a logical kid, so let's talk about this logically for a sec. Here’s the thing. Anything you think you feel about me is severely misguided. It's what those head doctors we make you see after a bad mission call transference. You're sixteen and your hormones are in the driver seat with their foot to the floor right now. They’re making you confuse anything you might feel toward me as a, you know, like a father figure, with… something else. Something much less appropriate. Something you can’t --”

Tony can’t even finish his monologue before Peter's laughter interrupts him.

“Okay, rude,” Tony mutters.

“Father figure?” Peter snorts in the middle of a laugh. “I’m sorry, but. Mr. Stark. You have an arcade game in your bedroom. I've seen you eat Sour Patch kids for breakfast. You have crazy, wild parties in the middle of the week that last until dawn and you know like, every word to Call Me, Maybe.”

“It’s a catchy bop.”

“Like, no offense, Mr. Stark,” Peter continues. He’s got this cocky grin on his face, like he thinks he’s won an argument they’re totally  _ not _ having. “But I kind of think I'd be more misguided if I  _ did _ think of you as a father figure.”

Tony pretends to be offended for about two seconds before he shrugs and sits back down in his chair. “Fair enough,” he says, spinning around and going back to the program he was working on. He pretends not to see the face-splitting grin on Peter’s face in the reflection of the monitor before the kid grabs his backpack and finally turns to leave.

“Good night, Mr. Stark.”

“Good night, Mr. Parker,” Tony echoes, waiting until Peter leaves the room to fling himself across the lab in his chair.

Uh huh. Yep. He is so fucked.

  
  



End file.
